Cinnamon-Sugar Scones

Scones were one of the first baked goods that I mastered on my own, and the dark chocolate chip scones that I’ve been making for almost 10 years have long been one of my mom’s favorite treats. Each year, for her birthday, I make her dinner and dessert, throwing out tons of options. Without fail, she always chooses Italian Sausage, Red Pepper & Mushroom Risotto and those dark chocolate chip scones. It’s always her favorite meal of the year. These cinnamon-sugar scones are created in a very similar fashion to the rock star chocolate chip ones, with the addition of some butter, cinnamon, and swapping out chocolate chips for cinnamon chips. The result is a wonderfully tender texture and a big kick of cinnamon – perfect for a special breakfast treat. When my mom tried these, she said they rivaled the chocolate chip scones. Needless to say, with a lot of cinnamon-lovers clamoring for them, they didn’t last long at all.

The thing I love most about making scones are how unbelievably easy they are to pull together. You can go from raw ingredients to fresh-from-the-oven scones in about a half hour. You can’t beat that! It’s a simple process of mixing together the dry ingredients in a bowl, cutting in the butter, pouring in the cream, then quickly mixing it together. Dump it out, pat into a circle, cut, and bake! Simple and quick – my favorite kind of baking.

I usually find Hershey’s brand of cinnamon chips in the local grocery store, where the chocolate chips are stocked. If you can’t find them at your store, you could always order them online – King Arthur Flour carries a 16-ounce bag. I like to keep a bag on hand – I’ve thrown them into quite a few things, plus I might snag little handfuls here and there as a snack as well 😉

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter, using your fingers, two knives, or a pastry blender. Mix until mixture resembles coarse meal, with mostly pea-size lumps of butter. Stir in the cinnamon chips. Pour heavy cream over the ingredients and stir with a spatula until dough begins to form. Don't over mix.

3. Transfer dough to a floured countertop and knead dough by hand just until it forms a ball. Form scones by patting the dough into a ¾-inch thick circle. Cut the scones into triangles or use a biscuit cutter for round scones.

4. Place scones on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Using a pastry brush, lightly the scones with heavy cream. Sprinkle scones with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake scones for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light brown. Cool scones on a wire cooling rack and serve. Store leftover scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

I’m glad that you said this because I’ve been wondering about this! I wanted to make these scones again, but I don’t want to go buy heavy cream (because it’s not an ingredient I usually use that much). And now, I’m glad that I can make these any time by just substituting with milk! 🙂 Thanks!

These look incredible and sound even better!!! I have never been a huge fan of scones (I have only eaten a couple in my entire life and they have been super dry, hard, crumbly, and BLAND!) but those look like a horse of a different color! :0) I put cinnamon chips in my coffee cake and pretty much decimate the entire thing on my own… So I will not hesitate to try making these babies!!

Ohmigosh. These are not those scones at all. I promise. All my life, I only had dry, chewy, tough, yucky rocks parading as scones, too. But these will change your life. So buttery, soft, and delicious! 🙂

I love scones and I never make them because they need to be made in the morning. Do you have any suggestions on how I could make them the night before? I would love to bring some to work! Your scones sound wonderful! Love cinnamon and sugar together!

Hi Jennifer, I have prepared scones the night before, placed them on the baking sheets, and wrapped the sheets tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated. In the morning, just brush on the cream and sprinkle the topping on, and bake!

These look delicious! My boyfriend is a HUGE fan of anything cinnamon and sugar, so I will definitely be making these for him! I actually just placed an order with KAF for some of their black cocoa recently…now I wish I’d added on cinnamon chips!

Jenn – Scones are meant to be a bit “bland” as they are designed as a vehicle for good jam and clotted cream. All this adding extras like chocolate or fresh fruit is a very North American way of making scones, very much like a biscuity muffin. Traditional scones are quite “plain” and flakey.

I just made these this morning for breakfast, and they were wonderful!! Tender, moist, and just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar 🙂 My husband loved them! (And he is very picky). Thanks for the new addition to my recipe box!

I’ve been a follower of your blog for a while now and I did try many recipes. All came out AMAZING. My husband, family and friends do not believe how my baking skills have improved since I found your blog. I tried the pigu, the Italian Easter Bread, Bacon Cheese Easter Bread, and Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls which turned out to be a HIT…I even taught it to one of my friends and she now LOVES me more than before :)))

I’m interested to try the Cinnamon-Sugar Scones, yet I believe I won’t find the cinnamon chips around where I live. Is there any substitute for it? Should I put some coarsely ground cinnamon and sugar instead?

I just love your blog, and have recently started my own. I just made your scones and included a post on them. Of course your photos are WAY better, but it’s a working progress right? These scones..absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing!

I have had these on my make-wish list since you posted them and had a hard time finding the chips. I live in Southern California and we’re not hurting for grocery stores – but I kept coming up empty. Until I went to WALMART!!! Beautiful cases filled with cinnamon chips. Off to bake…can’t wait to taste!

Ermagawd. I. LOVE. THESE. SCONES! They’re literally the best scones I’ve ever tried. I have struggled and failed so long with baking scones. They were always too chewy, dry, and heavy. These, however, literally melt in your mouth. Mmm!

I just now read through the comments on this thread, and I’m glad I did. I’ve made other scones before that specifically instruct to leave the scones together in a circle after cutting the circle into wedges. So, when I made these scones, I did the same thing as I’ve done with some other scones in the past. The outside of the scones appeared to be done, but when I separated the scones, they were still a little gooey on the inside. Now I know why–they have to be separated on the baking sheet! Mine still tasted good when I baked them all together, but they were just a little dense. Thank you for the clarification above!

Hi Janine, You can, but baking powder does not neutralize acidic ingredients (such as buttermilk) like baking soda does. As a result, if you use buttermilk in this recipe, the sour/tangy flavor of buttermilk will be very prominent.